Heath Pearce was our best defender on the field over the course of the three tough friendlies. At Wembley he was our best field player by far. Getting relegated with Rostock was unfortunate, but Heath may be able to move to greener pastures in January if he plays well in Bundesliga 2 before the window.

Pearce has won the position for the foreseeable future barring injury.

Bornstein is more of a wingback based on his talent set, but he's not a terrible backup option for the future. Excluding one good half against Lionel Messi in the Copa America, he has generally struggled defensively at the international level.

Eddie Lewis will probably be available against CONCACAF level opponents, but he is better suited to playing in the midfield at this point in his career.

Bocanegra is better suited to play center half, his lack of pace is exposed in that position.

Still holding out on the perpetually unhealthy Cory Gibbs as well. (Fingers crossed)

I found the article a bit weird. Pearce has played pretty darn well recently, and if Bornstein can finish recovering from his injury in good form, he'll be a decent option also. And if Orozco decides to play for the the US...

This article would have made more sense a couple years ago. And there are some other positions on the pitch where we're just as shaky for depth.

I also think the article moves the goalposts a bit. Even if the US were particularly weak at left back (which I don't really buy), it's not like we haven't improved there as elsewhere. Sure Corrales was bad against Mexico, but in his younger days he would have given Regis a run for his money back in the day. As would a lot of guys currently in the pool, even some playing out of position.